


Deviant

by ch_chewingum



Category: NCT (Band), NCT 127 - Fandom, NCT 2018 - Fandom, NCT 2020 - Fandom, NCT U - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Mafia NCT
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:00:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27686603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ch_chewingum/pseuds/ch_chewingum
Summary: By definition: Someone or something that differs markedly from what is considered socially or morally accepted.Mark Lee is the type of guy that has a plan. He’s also the type of guy to stick to said plan. He is not the type of guy to let anyone — including himself — change anything about said plan. You wouldn’t want to imagine what would happen if you forced him to partner up with the newbie, whose middle name was Independent.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	1. Test of Faith

Find the guy, intimidate, bring him in. Mark reminded himself of the “intimidate” part over and over as he waited for time to tick by on his smart watch. He leaned casually against the wall of the corner store next to the alley he had just seen the Neo’s next victim stroll down. Mark knew it was a dead end, but then again, that guy probably did too. He almost laughed, but remembered what laughter would cost him. 

Mark had traced this city enough times to know every road, path and bridge, and all he had to do was wait for this thief to finally — finally — walk right into his clutches. He hadn’t got a good look at him, given that he had a hood pulled loosely over his hair, and walked with his head down, almost burying his chin in his collarbones. Taeyong had told him and the team that “Johnny” had been causing them trouble for months, stealing goods from their stolen goods (the audacity), going off the grid then reappearing somewhere they never would have guessed. So they knew he was good; good enough to keep getting away with it. And the fact that he was completely unpredictable in location, time of day, and length of time between his thefts left them burning, ready to catch him in his little disappearing act. But each time they thought they had him he’d slip right past them like an oiled snake. 

“Enough!” Taeyong slammed his hands on the large circular desk in front of him, silence gradually smothering the argument inside the “boardroom”, or in reality, Mark’s living room.

“John Seo.” He pointed at the cork board covered in red veins of string and notes, “has been stealing from us for too long. We need to shut him down, and we need to do it now. I mean, who knows who he’s working for? If it's himself, he’s doing a hell of a job.”

Mark stood at the back of the room, hand groping around a bag of Doritos as he watched the stressed, desperate young man before him try to make sense of the drama they had once again found themselves in. All because of one rogue delinquent. 

“I’ll go.”

Every head in the room turned to the source of the voice, then loud, overlapping protests filled the air again, causing Taeyong to press the palms of his hands against the table and suck his lips together in an attempt to suppress the annoyance. Being a leader would be fun, they said.

“Doyoung, you went on the last mission,” he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “and look at where that got us.” 

“Hey, I’ve nearly fully recovered!”

“That’s not the point! You know we have to be extremely cautious when we’re outside. One trip to the hospital for any of us and all that we’ve worked for could be gone.”

Whenever Taeyong spoke, the room he was in would fall silent immediately, like a mist settling over cool autumn ground. All eyes were on him, and no one dared interrupt. 

“Getting shot is not on the agenda, are we clear?” 

His question was not directed at anyone in particular, but all 7 heads in the room nodded steadily. Doyoung sighed in defeat, but didn’t argue, waiting for someone else to volunteer. 

“How about Mark?”

The boy’s ears pricked up even more so at the mention of his name, and his hand froze inside the crisp packet for the first time in the last five minutes. Jaehyun was staring right at him. ‘What about yourself?’ Mark thought, eyes locked on his, waiting for the final verdict from their leader.

Taeyong hesitantly shifted his gaze between all seven of the men before him, waiting for someone to interject. Intimidation made them silent, and he shrugged his shoulders lightly. “I guess so,” he murmured. Mark didn’t want to make it obvious, but he knew Taeyong didn't like sending the youngest ones out to do business. Even though they all joined the team voluntarily, he felt the need to preserve their innocence, only keeping the dirty work for the older ones. He and Jungwoo got special treatment from the members, meaning always-treated-like-four-year-olds treatment. Jaehyun only just escaped this, being a year older than Jungwoo, and also got away with babying the two youngest.

“Cool,” Mark replied, tossing the now empty bag into the corner of the living room, a cardboard box providing temporary service as a bin. “When do I start?”

The leader looked everywhere except Mark’s inquiring gaze, before suddenly his eyes lit up, an idea weaving itself together inside them. “What if I gave you a partner?”

A few of the guys started murmuring things like, “Mark’s never gonna be able to survive by himself if Taeyong doesn’t start letting him do things around here,” and, “he really doesn’t trust him, huh.”

Mark rolled his eyes, the closest anyone has ever got to protesting against Taeyong. “I don’t need a partner.” He wanted to prove that he was worth what any of the other members were.

“Yet,” Yuta coughed. 

Mark’s eyes softened as he silently pleaded with Taeyong just to let him have that one moment of freedom from taunts as a result of his age. The man reluctantly nodded. 

Despite how hard he tried to hide it, Mark smiled.


	2. Going Solo

Twisting a knife that Yuta had gifted him between his fingers, as well as hiding a taser that Jungwoo had “picked up” on the inside of his jacket, he headed for the assigned alleyway where he saw Johnny disappear moments ago. The path he walked became more dim and damp, and he had a feeling that the guy they were after would be nearby. He went over how he would approach him for the 14th time that day. ‘Be straight out. Don’t stutter. Tell him to follow you or he won’t escape with all his limbs.’

The alleyway split into two, both ways dead ends that he knew would leave Johnny cornered. As his head snapped back and forth between each one, he was becoming increasingly sure that there was no one there. “Damn it,” he huffed aloud, throwing his head back in defeat. “Taeyong’s never gonna trust me again.”

“Ah, so that’s his name.”

Instinctively, Mark whipped the blade out of his pocket and hid it in the palm of his hand, extending the weapon along his index finger and spinning on his heel, pointing it straight at the speaker. He had to stop himself from asking how he had appeared behind him when he had seen him enter, and there wasn’t another way out that Mark knew of. He would have seen him leave. Instead he frowned the way Doyoung had taught him.

Johnny was tall, dark and mysterious — all ideal for the career he had chosen for himself — totally skilled when it came to athletics (explaining how he could easily scale his way over a barbed wire fence) as well as having a whole lot of stealth, as Mark had just witnessed. However the boy, whose dream was to be able to tackle a guy with these sorts of skills, was standing before him, just a little less than all of that. 

He’d practised in the gym through all his free time to do stuff like running away from the police all day. And don’t even get me started on what the man could lift. But the stealth… still lacking in that.

“Kid, what is that? You look constipated. Smile a little.”

Mark only frowned more. When Mark didn’t take his comment on board, Johnny scoffed and looked around behind him. 

“Oh, it’s just you? Cool, I’m a little tired of getting ambushed today.” Johnny was acting like he knew Mark didn't have a clue what he was doing; like he was a kid trying to fit in with the cool guys. So Mark decided to play on that a bit. He flicked the blade of the knife back into the handle and tucked it back into his jacket, biting the inside of his mouth in mock fear.

“Look, it’s my first mission, and—”

“Awe, how cute!” Johnny exclaimed, placing his hands on his knees and bending down like he was beckoning a dog, even though Mark was only 3 inches smaller than him. “Let me guess, this ‘Taeyong’ guy didn’t want to send you out today, but you begged and pleaded and he gradually came around, right?”

He knew he was going to put up with taunting from this guy as soon he was assigned the mission, but just how young did he actually think he was?

“It wasn’t like that-”

Johnny stood up straight, put his hands on his hips and nodded. “Uh-huh. We all say that. How old did you say you were?”

Not only was this guy a good thief, but he seriously knew how to drive someone to frustration.

“Old enough to know how to do this,” he remarked, quickly kicking his right leg into the back of the older man’s knee, sending him crumbling to the ground. Despite having 25 years of wisdom on his side, Johnny did not expect the 16 year-old looking lad to produce that kind of attack. While Johnny was down, Mark’s mind was racing — he didn’t think he would have actually been able to do that. Granted, he wanted to go solo, but he never admitted to the others that he had limited knowledge on how to go about it. He would have to be able to do what two did together, but by himself. And he understood why Taeyong hesitated with letting him leave, not having someone to guide him. 

He quickly threw a well-aimed punch at Johnny’s right temple, although now he knew the kid could fight, Johnny was ready for it. He raised his right forearm to block the punch, and laughed at Mark’s futile attempt to knock him out.

“Come on,” he said, pushing himself up from the floor and curling his fists in front of him. “You didn’t think you’d actually have a chance, right?”

The confidence Mark had gained from his sudden attack had dissipated; Johnny was taller, faster, stronger, smarter — he had no hope.

Although, he did have him on the floor at one point.

He tried to shake the pessimism from his mind, but before he could clear his head he received a harsh blow to the cheek. His left hand flew straight to the injury, his right hand pulling the knife from inside his jacket and holding it at arm’s-length, his practised scowl making him actually pass at looking intimidating. It was as if in the first few seconds of pain-free silence, he managed to ignore any pain that might be inflicted on him. His only focus now was on getting this man under his control, dead or alive (preferably alive; blood made him squeamish).

He dropped his left hand to his side and pointed the blade forwards, close to Johnny’s chest. He didn't think to look at his fingers for any blood from his cheek. His projected hand quivered slightly, as though Mark’s fear was magnified by the weapon cradled between his knuckles.

Neither moved.

Johnny took his first step towards the knife.

“I like you. You’ve got guts. And skills.”

Mark remained silent. With Johnny’s movement towards him he could have easily plunged it into his chest, but both of them knew that wouldn’t happen. “Look, why don’t you put down the knife and come with me? I could use someone like you on my side.”

‘Oh, now he’s growing to like me. Now that I’ve got the upper hand.’

“You know what,” Mark said, tone rising in agreement. “Sounds tempting.”

Johnny cracked a smile. “Great! My partner will be thrilled, she’ll love you. I hope you can take orders well — she likes being, uh, ‘man of the house,’ if you will.”

Mark also allowed himself to smile, before a taser was plunged into Johnny’s neck, and the man’s expression changed from one of excitement to one of betrayal, before he lost control of his body and slumped to the floor. 

“Nice work, Mark,” Doyoung called from behind Johnny, but the boy just rolled his eyes, tucking his hands into the pockets on his jeans. 

“I had it covered, Doyoung.”

“Oh I didn’t doubt that!” He laughed, hooking his arms beneath Johnny’s and flicking his eyes between Mark and Johnny’s legs. Mark walked towards Doyoung and Johnny, picking up the man by his ankles, walking forwards as Doyoung started walking backwards, looking over his shoulder every 2 seconds. “Taeyong just sent us to check on you, that’s all.”

Mark stopped walking. “Us?”

“Me and Taeil.”

As if today couldn’t get any worse. Not only had he failed in his only assigned task, Taeyong had lied to him. 

“Mark, you’re holding us up.”

“Right, sorry.”

They carried Johnny in silence, and Mark assumed that Taeil would be waiting in the van, assigned driver. He was one of the only ones that could drive, the ones who had passed their tests being him, Jaehyun and Mark himself. 

“I never asked how you got here anyway,” Mark decided to break the uncomfortable silence. “I thought there was only one way in here.”

Doyoung adjusted his hold on Johnny, and shook his head to move his hair out of his face. “No, actually there’s a gap between two houses at the end, about two bodies wide. You can’t see it unless you actually walk towards it.”

Mark pursed his lips and nodded, impressed. That’s what made Doyoung more suited to this mission than he was, but like Taeyong had said, they couldn’t risk more injury.   
So why was he there?

“Are you sure Taeyong sent you?” Mark asked once they reached the van, Taeil unlocking it from the inside. “I mean, he seemed pretty reluctant to let you out of his sight back there.”

Doyoung sighed, and indicated for Mark to rest Johnny against the side of the van as he opened the doors. As they struggled with the ten stone dead weight, Doyoung spoke, but never answered the question Mark posed to him. 

“Mark, what have we told you about asking questions?”

“Is it that stupid rule about not exposing your weaknesses? Are you trying to say I shouldn’t let people know I’m stupid?”

Doyoung said nothing, winked, and slid the door shut, heading around the side of the van to climb in the front with Taeil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven’t lost my spark for this story!! I’ve been very busy and kept forgetting to upload this chapter which has been in my drafts for at least a month >:( but I do still really like it!! Currently working on Chapter 3 and hoping to get it up before 2-3 weeks is up :)


	3. Precipice

The journey back to the house seemed longer than he remembered. It might have been the fact that he was being crushed by a six-foot tall male, every pain-filled minute dragging on. Johnny, bound and tied to the seat next to Mark, had no control of his limbs, his head lolling against Mark’s with every corner that they turned. Or it could have been the fact that disappointment clouded his focus and took over his sense of time, leading him to believe he’d been moping for the past hour when in reality it had been just ten minutes. He knew it was one of the two, as he pushed Johnny’s skull away from him for the twelfth time.

“I can’t believe you actually got him, Mark,” Taeil commented, and the younger man heaved a tired sigh. Taeil must have understood that he took it the wrong way, and expanded on his statement. “I mean, I’m stunned he let himself be captured. Do you know how long we’ve been planning this? Mark, it’s a huge deal, and you’ve just got him restrained right next to you. Congratulations.” All of this was spoken through the rear view mirror on the ceiling of the van’s interior, occasional glances made his way to let him see that it wasn't just empty, driver-and-passenger small-talk. 

It lifted Mark’s spirits a little, knowing that he had managed to corner and capture the man who had plagued them with thefts for God knows how long. He didn’t need to say anything to let Taeil know he was thankful for his praise, but suddenly, he became horrified at the presence of another voice in the vehicle. 

Mark turned to his left to see Johnny, eyes lazily focussing on him, trying to shake off the numbness that Doyoung had gifted him with. Mark failed to hide a screech, and instinctively Taeil jumped, tugging on the wheel and sending the van careering into the middle of the road. Desperately, he swerved back into the correct lane and yelled back at Mark, telling him to calm down.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t expect him to wake up!”

“Just sort it out!” Doyoung told him, turning round in the front seat. He didn’t offer the taser this time, so Mark did the first thing he could think of and balled his hand into a fist, delivering a swift hit to Johnny’s nose. Doyoung’s mouth dropped open wider than he intended it to, as he quickly regained composure, then huffed heavily through his nose. “Really?”

“Well what did you expect me to do?” Mark retorted, pitch high from the tension. Blood crept down Johnny’s Cupid’s bow and settled there, eventually spilling into the crease of his slightly parted lips. A low groan told Mark that he wouldn’t be out for long.

“Taeil, how long ‘till the house?”

The tires skidded as Taeil abandoned cautiousness and focused on speed. “About ten minutes. Five if we don’t get stopped for topping thirty. And if we do… well—” he looked at Mark in the mirror, then at Johnny’s weakened form next to him. 

“Yeah, five minutes until you get to show Taeyong what you’re actually capable of,” Doyoung reminded Mark, and a knot of anxiety tightened around his midriff. He hadn’t stopped thinking about meeting with him all day, but suddenly being reminded of it from someone else made him feel worse. 

‘Don’t be stupid, Mark. Like they both said, you did amazing. You got him. You don’t need a partner.’

This kind of self-reassurance continued through the remainder of the frenzied journey and until he found himself entering the living room, where half of the men remained. Unfortunately, Taeyong was one of them. He knew he would be there — where else would he be? But Mark had given himself a false hope that Taeyong had suddenly decided to do a runner, or resign as leader, or taken for ransom, or get run over by Taeil as he swerved the van desperately into Mark’s driveway.

“You did well today, Mark,” were the first words that he heard as he stepped foot in the door. It wasn’t Taeyong’s voice, so on-edge he remained. A wailing siren quickly came into earshot and Mark turned in blind panic, being so tightly coiled that he spun into Doyoung, entering behind him. 

“Mark! We aren’t going to get caught — we’ve been doing this for years. Ease up, alright?” Doyoung told him sternly. Taeil entered shortly afterwards and closed the door behind him, locking it securely with the three padlocks they had fitted.

“Yuta, can you go and get Jaehyun and head out the back way and collect the uh, package?” Taeil locked eyes with him and he silently agreed. 

Mark swivelled around again and saw Yuta leaning against the wall, chewing something with a proud smile twisting his lips into a shape Mark rarely ever saw them in. 

“Sure,” he replied, and strolled off to the living room. Seconds later he appeared back with Jaehyun, who made a comment that made Mark’s heart freeze. 

“Taeyong wants to speak with you alone, Mark.”

He shrugged, appearing unbothered on the surface, but, he imagined throwing any respect he had for himself out the window, clutching onto Doyoung’s leather jacket and begging him to let him leave. 

Doyoung noticed Mark’s frigid stance and reached out to touch his arm, making him flinch. “I’ll walk with you to the door, if that’s what you want?”

The behaviour that he was normally so disgusted by managed to bring him comfort, and he accepted being cared for for the first time. Doyoung went first, knocking on the dining room door with the back of his hand and awaiting a welcome. 

“Come in,” Taeyong’s voice carried through the hallway, only seeming louder with the lack of conversation through the whole house. When he opened the door, he realised the room wasn’t empty, and gave Mark a smile of reassurance, pushing him inside. 

Jungwoo, Sicheng and Taeyong remained — socialites at their finest. Sicheng seemed to be playing some sort of card game, his phone held horizontally, whereas Jungwoo was furiously texting someone, the phone close to his eyes in concentration. Taeyong was facing him, meaning his phone couldn’t be seen, so as soon as Mark looked at him his eyes shot up, and he placed his phone flat on the table, saying nothing for a few seconds. 

Sicheng and Jungwoo didn’t look up, and the former merely murmured, “are they back?”

Taeyong said nothing, leading to Sicheng having to turn around to see for himself, Jungwoo also sneaking a look. 

“Mark, please sit down.” Taeyong indicated to the empty seat opposite him, between the other two table occupants. He looked at them expectedly until Jungwoo got the message and asked Sicheng if he wanted to go for a drink. Sicheng looked up from his phone to see Taeyong, an eyebrow arched, and hastily agreed. 

Having a room to himself, he allowed himself to release a sigh he seemed to have been holding, folded his hands into each other and rested them on the table, waiting for Mark to stop adjusting himself in his chair. Mark tried to focus on sitting still, but because he was focusing on that, he wasn’t giving his attention to Taeyong. And when he gave him his attention it made him nervous, so he fidgeted more. 

“How do you think you did today, Mark?” Taeyong spoke softly, allowing a smile to bloom against his lips. It calmed Mark’s nerves a little; hell— it calmed them a lot. 

“Uh,” he began, not knowing where to start. He didn’t want to blow his own trumpet, and he didn’t want to make him think he had done badly either. So he tried to remain unbiased, and said, “I think I did okay?” His raised intonation enticed a chuckle from the man opposite him, and, hugely relieved, Mark released the tension in his shoulders. He allowed himself to sit back in his chair, instead of perching anxiously on the edge, as if he were waiting for feedback after a task like an eager child. “I have to be honest though, in the end, I was kind of glad you sent Taeil and Doyoung to accompany me.”

“Good! It’s never a bad thing to work as part of a team, Mark. So you felt more at ease once they arrived?”

“I guess so.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

Confused, Mark asked what he meant, but the only response he got was Taeyong directing a wave at the dining room door. 

“Hey, that’s your cue,” Mark heard Yuta’s hushed voice carry through from the kitchen, and Mark suddenly found himself understanding what was going on. A short-ish, young adult man with hazelnut-colored dyed hair stepped into the room, and headed for the table at which they were both sat, an excited grin that Mark immediately hated just from what he was here to do. 

“Mark, meet Haechan.”

‘Huh.’

“He’ll be your action-plan advisor and activist.”

“A partner,” Mark translated. 

“No, Mark, ‘action-plan advisor and activist.’ Nice to meet you.” He jokingly offered his hand to Mark, and when he didn’t move, he took it back and folded his arms against his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me stressing over my coursework but not following my schedule and instead during the time to finish drafting my fave story

**Author's Note:**

> So this story started out as one of those ideas you pan out at like 4 am when you can’t sleep but my friend persuaded me to start updating it here so I’m hoping I don’t lose inspiration because this book is gonna be like,, my child ;-;


End file.
